Sick Day
by NBLE999
Summary: Cuphead falls ill but people assume that he's just faking it to get a day off from school. Mugman and Elder Kettle, on the other hand, are there to help him


Sick Day

It was just an average day for Cuphead and Mugman as they began their day. Cuphead was joyfully woken up by Mugman much to his annoyance to learn that it was yet another school day. He rolled over to look at his brother who had an enthusiastic smile on his face.

"What's so special about today?" he mumbled tiredly.

"It's bologna day today!" exclaimed his younger brother.

The red cup wasn't in the mood at all for school today, or any other day at all, given his nature. Still, he may as well just go otherwise lest he want another lecture from Elder Kettle about punctuation.

"Okay, okay. I'm getting up. Gimme a minute."

Rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, he begrudgingly got out of bed to get ready. Breakfast went as normal, Elder Kettle planned to drop off new library books later in the day while the boys were in class. As soon as their breakfast was finished and their bags packed, both brothers walked off to school. Mugman was talking about a new book he'd borrowed from the library while Cuphead, extremely disinterested, just listened. As they neared the school, Cuphead felt a small cramp in his stomach, at which point he stopped.

"You okay, brother?" asked Mugman.

"Yeah, yeah, just a small pain in my stomach," he assured his brother.

"Oh, well, I'm sure it's just growing pains or somethin'. You'll get over it!" Mugman beamed.

"Well, I wouldn't mind if it was enough to keep me out of school for just a day," remarked Cuphead.

"Be careful what you wish for!" Mugman joked.

Soon enough, Cuphead would later rue his words.

Midday:

The whole class was listening to Mr. Steel's lesson on long division, trying their hardest to stay awake. Even Mugman could barely keep his eyes open as he found the lessons by this particular teacher to be tedious. Both boys would always state their dislike of him for being boring, overly strict and above all, impatient. Cuphead held the highest record for being sent to detention by him on many occasions, usually for being disruptive but, on rare occasions, for something he didn't do. It was pretty clear that he wasn't liked at all by Mr. Steel.

As for Cuphead, a strange, painful sensation came over him. This wasn't any mild ache at all and it seemed to hit him in the gut like a mallet. He softly groaned and clutched the right side of his stomach, which caught both Mugman's and Mr. Steel's attention.

"Cuphead, please keep your mind on the problem at hand," snapped the teacher before turning to the board.

"B – but sir! I – OWWW!" cried the young cup. Mugman's eyes widened in concern as his older brother fell out of his seat, doubling over and whimpering in pain.

The whole class turned to look at Cuphead, who was now hyperventilating and sobbing while holding his belly. Some looked unsure as to whether or not he was faking it, while others just found it entertaining, thinking he was definitely faking it.

"What's wrong with Cuphead?"

"Eh, 'e's just fakin' a tummy ache or somethin'. I think he's really trying hahder this time, I'll give him that."

"Ummm, he clearly has tears in his eyes."

"Of course he does!" Mugman retorted, "He's clearly in pain! LOOK AT HIM!"

Mr. Steel turned around with an irritated glare to find a crying Cuphead being helped up by Mugman. The steel ruler quietly walked up ready to chastise brothers and bent down, hissing, "I won't ask you again, boys, get back to your seats, or else I'll be having words with your guardian. Now, I know how you love putting on a performance – "

"He's. Not. FAKING IT!" Mugman insisted, leading his ailing brother around the dispassionate instructor to the classroom door, ignoring another demand for them to get back to his seats.

Out in the hallway, Cuphead hobbled over to the nurse's office and knocked on the door. No one knocked back, making the poor cup feel frightened.

"Oh damn," Mugman muttered, "I guess we have to wait for Elder Kettle to come by and –"

"Boys? Wh – what's going on?" a familiar voice called out.

Elder Kettle had an arm full of books, which he then set down and hobbled as fast as he could to his boys. His gaze fell on Cuphead, who gave him a weak smile of relief and stammered through tears, "M– my stomach h – hurts. And I – I mean r – REALLY h – h – hurts!"

Elder Kettle's heart ached as his hands rested on Cuphead's trembling shoulders. He gently lead his adoptive son out while Mugman caught up with them.

"Is he going to be okay, Elder Kettle?" the concerned mug asked.

"Don't worry, I'll get him to the doctor's and see if they can do anything. You just head on back to class and explain what happened, okay?" Elder Kettle assured.

Mugman nodded and watched as both his brother and guardian walked outside the school grounds. He walked back to class, worryingly intensely about his brother. It definitely wasn't any normal stomach ache, and it's not like Cuphead to cry over something like that either. Something was clearly and seriously wrong with him to make him react the way he did. He reassured himself that Cuphead was in good hands and that he'll be home that night.

Later on, Mugman sat out on the step of the school's doorway waiting for Elder Kettle to come back. He overheard some of their classmates discussing the incident with Cuphead between their parents, which only managed to worry him even more. Chip's mother passed by him with her son in tow and said to the blue mug, "Don't worry, sweetie. I'm sure that your brother will be alright. And my son and I will be sure to let Kettle know of what happened before he left! Right son?"

"Definitely," Chip nodded with a concerned look on his face. He waved goodbye to Mugman with a reassuring smile.

Mugman glanced over at the gate and was surprised and relieved to see Elder Kettle there. He ran up immediately ready to ask the old kettle what was wrong with Cuphead that day, half hoping his brother would be ready to go "Boo!" from behind the pillar at the gate.

Alas, it was just Elder Kettle waiting for him. He looked up to his guardian half – disappointed and half – worried, to which the old kettle lead him away back home.

They were a few yards away from Porkrind's Emporium when Mugman asked, "I – is Cuphead okay? What was wrong with him?"

"He'll be fine, boy. I'll explain a little more along the way as I need to get something quickly from Porkrind's."

"But I really wanna know, sir!" pleaded Mugman, "he looked seriously afraid and was holding his tummy a lot! Was it something bad?"

The old kettle stopped and cast a concerned look to his youngest son, who was anxiously awaiting to hear what happened to Cuphead. He pinched the bridge of his spout and sat the young mug on a rock to tell him.

"Well, I…had to take him up to the hospital, and they asked me to wait while they were examining him," Kettle explained.

"Is it something bad?" Mugman enquired, fearing the worst.

"Well, then they came out and told me what happened, and I'll admit I was shocked."

Mugman sheepishly did what he was asked, "and?"

"It turns out your poor brother came down with appendicitis and they only managed to get it out in time."

The poor mug was even more shocked and looked away from Elder Kettle with a deeply panicked look on his face, his mind flooded with intense worry over his brother. Elder Kettle rested both his hands on Mugman's shoulders and added, "Now, please don't worry, he's in the best of hands, I promise you."

"O – okay," Mugs replied.

"After today, why don't I let you have the day off so we can see him together tomorrow afternoon?"

Mugman looked up with a smile of approval and answered, "Sure, thanks Elder Kettle."

Next day:

Both Mugman and Elder Kettle waited patiently in the hospital waiting room as they arrived fifteen minutes early. Mugman was still pretty anxious about seeing his brother, thinking that he'd be shaken after almost dying from appendicitis. Elder Kettle could only try to reassure him that Cuphead was in good hands.

Soon enough, they were called in to see him. Mugman could feel his heart beat a little faster as they were lead to his room, thinking how much pain he could be in.

However, these fears were dashed once both he and Elder Kettle saw him drawing happily to his heart's content. There was even a large comic book on the bed along with a small dish with a few crumbs on the movable table. Cuphead's eyes lit up when he saw his brother and guardian waiting by the door, yelling, "Heya, guys!"

Both of them waved and smiled, as Mugman felt a wave of relief wash over him, feeling glad that his brother is fine again.

The nurse who brought them in walked over and carefully placed the comic in the drawer and wheeled away the table. She turned to Cuphead with a smile and said, "Now, Cuphead, I hope you had a good rest but please don't make a mess while you're in bed, okay?"

"Y – yeah, sure! Also, thanks for the paper!"

As the nurse and Elder Kettle started talking with each other, Mugman walked over to Cuphead's side who surprised him with a sudden hug.

"So, what's been happening since I've been here?" Cuphead asked with a smile.

"Nothing much, just that Mr. Steel is probably gonna get into trouble and Elder Kettle allowed me to have the day off," Mugman replied.

"Hmm. Serves him right, he always was an asshole, especially whenever people would call in sick."

"Definitely! Elder Kettle even said that he'd talk to the school about him."

"Good!" Cuphead added, before lying back in bed.

Mugman sheepishly looked at him and said, "I was pretty worried about you, ya know. Especially when Kettle explained what was wrong."

"Well, I'm still here, ain't I? It's gonna take a lot more than the devil or appendickacitis to finish me off!"

Mugman burst out laughing and responded, "It's APPENDICITIS, ya goofball!" to which both brothers started laughing.

Mugman chuckled and said, "Well, it's great to see you're not in any pain now, Cups!"

"Oh, gosh yeah!", Cuphead replied, "It's good that darn thing is outta me now!"

Suddenly, he got an idea and asked his brother, "Hey, Mugs, wanna see the new bandage I got?"

Before Mugman could reply, Cuphead quickly lifted up his shirt proclaiming, "Here it is! TA – DAAA!"

Mugman's eyes widened in shock and he winced at the large bandage plastered on the right side of Cuphead's belly. It pretty much covered the most of the lower half of his stomach up to his ribcage. All Mugman could wonder was how big of a scar his brother got.

"Just wait until it heals and then I'm gonna - !"

"Cuphead, you don't want to hurt yourself after a big operation now do you?" warned Elder Kettle from across the room.

The young cup let go of his shirt and sheepishly got back into bed, "Hehe, sorry."

"Well, it's nice to see your still yourself, Cups!" Mugman mused.

"Well, at least you guys were able to take me seriously on this though. And thanks," Cuphead added.

"You're welcome, boy," said Elder Kettle, smiling.

"Of course we would! Anything for you, Cups!" replied Mugman.

**A/N: Hi folks! I hope you enjoyed this other story of mine! I kinda had this idea of Cuphead falling ill and people thinking that he was faking it, with only Mugman and Elder Kettle taking him seriously. I wasn't sure about what he'd come down with but, after watching some old clips of Madeleine I thought I'd make it appendicitis! Yeah, pretty harsh. Also, I know that Cuphead is a little bit more perky at the end than he needs to be after a big operation but, I imagine that he would feeling a little tired but also very happy that he's well again. So, what are your thoughts on the story? Please fave it and leave a nice review. Constructive criticism is appreciated as always. So, with that said, thanks for reading and have a lovely day!**


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